Early Mornings
by AHS
Summary: Lupin watches his wife as she has intellectual discussions with their drooling infant son early one morning. NTRL, oneshot.


Title: Early Mornings

Author: Allie Stillwell

Note: The other day, I sat on the rug with the baby. He can crawl, but he can't yet sit up by himself, so I made a diamond with my legs and laid him back on my feet. With minimal help, he was able to sit up by himself and gurgle endlessly. So I talked to him stupidly. And once we had had a long discussion about the Romanov family, I wondered how the silly things I do look to the outside world :X.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. But I do own most of the situations that are contained, haha.

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His delicate fingers, worn only by the parchment of a multitude of books read over the years, found the faucet despite his closed eyes. It had been another long night last night, what with Tucker teething and all. Dora had been out late on Auror business, so he let her sleep as he stayed up with their son. Eventually, the only reason that the boy fell asleep was he tired himself out crying, and by that point, the sun had already broken on the horizon and he figured it best to just start his day.

As the hot water cut off, he reached out and grabbed a towel, rubbing his face in it in an attempt to wake up his eyes. With eyes half-closed, he mussed his hair with the towel and then dried his whole body, slipping on his pyjama pants before leaving the bathroom. He tried to tame his grey-streaked hair, but in the end it just looked like he had used some bad hair product. Sighing and stretching, Remus walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cuppa from the pot on the stove. He had set down the cup next to his morning paper and glasses when he heard his wife's voice drifting through the kitchen door.

'Yes, that's a very astute observation,' she said seriously in reply to gurgles. 'Really, do you find the situation in Siberia _that_ deplorable?'

More gurgles answered as Remus slipped on his glasses and walked to the door. As quietly as possible, he looked through to the living room of the flat where his wife sat, their son propped against her feet as she looked down at him. The baby looked up at his mother, drool of course running in rivelets down his face, his cheeks rosy as his smiled at her.

'It's true that Ekaterinburg can be considered dismal, but in Tobolsk, the Imperial family was treated rather nicely, you know,' Dora replied to the grunts, putting her hands on her hips. 'It's silly to assume that because Ekaterinburg ended up being so _awful_, the entire Ural Region is awful as well.'

Tucker stuck his hand in his mouth and started chewing on his fingers with a big smile on his face. His other hand grabbed alternately at the deep pile of the rug they sat on and his mother's long brown hair. A smile broke out across Dora's face as she folded down to grab up her son in her arms, lifting him up to the level of her face. He made a gleeful noise before pulling both hands up against his mouth, drooling on both of them. Suddenly, he leaned his head forward and his tiny nose made contact with Dora's lips, leading to a kissing attack on behalf of his mum.

Remus was all smiles watching this. Everything had come so naturally for her. No one ever taught her how to make him laugh (press her mouth to his belly button and blow), how to keep him occupied whilst he fed him so that he didn't get food all over the room (stand behind him and snap or clap), how to make him fall asleep so he wouldn't be heart-breaking lying down for a kip (take him for a walk in his pram around the block), or how to make him happy again when he was crying (throw him into the air and catch him several times). Whilst he was careful and constantly afraid for their son, she constantly tested his limits by holding him upside down (which he adored) or letting him eat those little fruity puffs from the floor after he dropped them: 'After all,' she was keen to say. 'What doesn't kill him only makes him stronger.'

From his hiding place behind the kitchen door, Remus watched as Dora laid back, setting Tucker on her chest. Curling her legs up, she put their son on her feet and raised him high in the air, her hands supporting his little chest. He laughed, making the same happy gargling sounds that every day sounded more and more like real words. As a thick wad of drool fell from his mouth, Dora screamed a little and quickly aimed him over her shoulder so that the drool with a splat on the hardwood floor that her head rested on.

'We'll have Daddy clean that up later, what do you say?' she said with a grin.

'Dadadadadadadada...' Tucker replied.

'Yeah, _dadadadadadadadada_.'

'Or you could just pull the rug over it,' Remus said, coming out of the kitchen wearing just his pyjama pants and glasses.

Dora tilted her head back toward her husband's voice. 'And reveal all the crunched-up Cheerios on the other side? I think not.'

Remus smiled as he came over and sat down on the floor next to his wife's head. She raised it up and rested it once again upon his thigh as he reached out and mussed up Tucker's hair. Dora lowered the boy so that he was sitting on her stomach and both of his parents looked at him proudly. His honey-coloured eyes darted between his mum and dad as he held his arms to his sides, grunting as he made the sign for milk.

'Liar! I just gave you a bottle!' Dora said, sticking her tongue out at Tucker, which just made him grunt more and furrow his brow.

'Maybe he wants some more of those God-awful puffs you give him.'

'Tucker loves the puffs.'

'But have you tasted them? They're awful.'

Dora was silent for a moment. 'Remus, they're made for _babies_.'

'So babies have no taste?'

'Babies don't _care_. Have you tasted any of his other food? Bland.'

'You taste his food?'

'_You_ taste his food?' she countered, raising her eyebrows.

'Point taken.'

'Good, then get up and get him some munchies.'

Dora sat up and her husband disappeared into the kitchen once more. After struggling with the squirmy baby, Dora finally managed to get him into the walker as Remus came out holding a container that looked not unlike a can of cat treats. He popped the top off and poured a small mound of the banana puffs as Dora held Tucker's walker in place. Once he had accomplished this, Tucker's hands dove for the puffs, which stuck to his drool-covered hands.

'You're free! Run like the wind!' Dora said, removing her foot from the bottom bar of the walker. Tucker responded by setting off towards the other side of the room, where he immediately ran into the sofa.

'Just like his mum,' Remus said, receiving a smack on the shoulder in response.

They watched him race circles around the room, focusing much attention on Dora's cat who was jarred from her sleep on the sofa. Dora's eyes followed Tucker's progression around until he got stuck and had to back up, leaving the white cat in a safe area away from the evil wheels of the walker. She heard crunching and looked over at her husband, who had one of the fruit puffs in his hand and was chewing another as he looked up at the ceiling.

'Still awful,' he murmured, absentmindedly setting the canister on a bookcase next to him.

Smiling once more, Dora reached up and brought his face down towards her. Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her lips softly against his and soon they were engulfed in each other, not even noticing that Tucker had, in fact, been able to reach the cat, and was now sucking on the end of her tail as the cat sat looking as though she was having an out-of-body experience. The kiss melted as Dora laughed and her husband looked at her questioningly, watching her smack her lips with her nose scrunched up.

'What?'

'Those things do taste awful.'


End file.
